In May, I mentioned that I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I was coming close to finishing a long-standing novel project. By long standing, I mean 12 years.

Now that I’ve admitted it, I’m cringing. Dear future agent, it’s not how long I take to write a book. It’s how long I take to finish a PhD, get married, move countries three times and have three kids while LEARNING how to write a book.

In fact, I wrote the equivalent of three books, and the first part, which I changed into a stand-alone, I rewrote… oh, I don’t know, five times? It might have been better to write a new book each time I learned something big about the craft. I don’t know. But I was and still am in love with the idea that started it all. It would not let go of me, so I didn’t let go of it.

In the meantime, I wrote a few short stories and a couple of novellas.

Finally, at the end of July, I deemed my big, long-standing project finished. But then the school holidays hit, and I got too busy to even announce it’s done (I haven’t even celebrated yet! Shame on me.) And then there was Milford workshop (about that later), and then the beta-reader comments came back (a huge thank you!), and I realized I’m not all that finished, though it’s not as bad as I feared.

However. I’ve decided to put that project aside and start a new project because I’ve realized that I need to attempt a new long-form project before I can properly finish the first one I started. And, boy, it’s wonderful to finally give the stage of my imagination to a new world and new characters.

But before that, I’ve decided I need a deep dive into the craft. Over time, I’ve accumulated far too many books and resources I kept postponing to read because I was too busy writing, or working my day job, or being a mom. Who knows? If I gear up with new knowledge and rehash what I’ve learned before, I might spare me the quintuple rewrite of the new project.

I’ve given myself time until the end of the year for learning. If I manage to hold back from writing something new for so long is debatable, though.

So, that’s where I am at. A writer is never finished.